isn't that the point of love though that it is not something for something it is something for itself. so if? they could fall in love could that change them.
It looks like it is you who actually can't stop thinking about that dumb bitch... ...must be luuuuuv...
The mother loves the criminal son. The son loves his mother. If you loved me you'll change. We've all heard that one. What's love got to do with it? Love may make emotions larger than life but only if we have something to work with.
it is a different type of love. the love of the maternal or paternal love is different, you will love them no matter what they look like because they take care of you. you will be drawn to a partner and find them attractive but they might not be good looking but you love them. why are we drawn to certain partners when it is not based on health or looks or money or personality but something we cannot control or understand. it is this love that does not make sense that would change a person. the fact that you feel that way about someone who does not benefit you in any way in itself is the process of purification.
The first thing you need to know about Salvation is that nobody is entitled to it, yet it is a free gift given to anyone that accepts it. To accept such a gift, you have to turn from the wrong that you do in your life and attempt to live a righteous life by Gods standards(not your own). Its in our human nature to want to condemn those that do more wicked than ourselves, so that we can feel more pure, yet we are all bad. For instance, most people on here would say sex before marriage is not a bad thing because in America most people do it and nobody is really condemned for doing it. Yet if you go to a community where everyone waits until they get married to have sex, if one person in that community is sleeping around, they will be condemned. So we condemn those that torture or murder, but if they were surrounded by people that do the same things, they will justify that it isnt as bad as you think. In fact you will see that some of the islamic extremists believe murdering someone who had sex before marriage is ok because pre-maritial sex is so bad in their eyes. This is why the standard for righteousness is the 10 commandments. Nobody has kept them all and everyone needs salvation. Its offered to all who turn from their sins and try to live a righteous life(aka repentance) and accept and trust that Christ died for our sins. You put that trust in Christ instead of beleiving that you are "good enough" to receive salvation and thats how you get it.
So in a quest for a so called redemption of sins, you would be prepared to start from a point which chose questionable morality as the benchmark , excluding massive chunks of world population who wouldn't choose it anyway , or wouldn't even know what it was or meant. Christian egocentric self-centered judgemental authoritarianism. Great start dude . Sounds like a sin in itself.
Since you have answered my question regarding what authority the answer to your question regarding sin and salvation shall be based upon, I offer the following: (As one who endeavors to follow Christ, I am somewhat concerned that the present day "church" has relegated one of its main functions to the back of the proverbial bus, the function of teaching and instruction in the Creedal statements of the historical church. In my opinion, one of the great confessions of the church is the Heidelberg Catechism (1576 A.D.). This catechism was written by Zacharias Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus. It is a series of 129 questions and answers that teach the Biblical doctrines. I have tried to match the questions from the catechism that seemed relevant to your question as best I could) 3.Q. From where do you know your sins and misery? A. From the law of God. 4.Q. What does God's law require of us? A. Christ teaches us this in a summary in Matthew 22: You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. 5.Q. Can you keep all this perfectly? A. No, I am inclined by nature to hate God and my neighbor. 60.Q. How are you righteous before God ? A. Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Although my conscience accuses me that I have grievously sinned against all God's commandments, have never kept any of them, and am still inclined to all evil, yet God, without any merit of my own, out of mere grace, imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ. He grants these to me as if I had never had nor committed any sin, and as if I myself had accomplished all the obedience which Christ has rendered for me, if I only accept this gift with a believing heart. 81.Q. Who are to come to the table of the Lord? A. Those who are truly displeased with themselves because of their sins and yet trust that these are forgiven them and that their remaining weakness is covered by the suffering and death of Christ, and who also desire more and more to strengthen their faith and amend their life. But hypocrites and those who do not repent eat and drink judgment upon themselves. 88.Q. What is true repentance or conversion of man? A. It is the dying of the old nature and the coming to life of the new. 114.Q. But can those converted to God keep these commandments perfectly? A. No. In this life even the holiest have only a small beginning of this obedience. Nevertheless, with earnest purpose they do begin to live not only according to some but to all the commandments of God.
It's been my experience that empathy is solely environmental. To aquire empathy I first had to experience some of the same hardships as those around me. I take issue with any need for purification or redemption from sin, as these are only relevant for those that partake in organized religion. Sin is the consequence of religious teaching and religion offering redemption from sin is a tragic irony indeed. This is not to say that right and wrong do not exist, they do, and as human beings we need to grow and learn from those right and wrong things we experience if we are to learn empathy, or anything else for that matter. Sadly, not all will learn from empathy from their experiences, and not all of those are sociopaths. There are those that are just miserable pricks in it for themselves. Our current group of corporate exec's and political hacks in banking would be an example of that.
you say empathy is solely environmental does that mean you have been murdered to appreciate the suffering that someone who is murder endures or feel sorry for them. i have not been murdered but i would not do it to someone because i would not want to make them suffer. you say empathy is environmental but the people who experience the most pain should be the best. so why do people from broken homes react worse than others if they have endured that environment. surely the person who is purified is the one that endures and decides not to make others suffer the same way, so why do some who suffer makes other go through it and others don't. my response is they develop consideration for others through loving relationships.
You can't pigeon hole all human beings in to one category or another based on their personal experience alone. Some who suffer will learn empathy, some will not. Some will actually want to exact more suffering on others for a whole host of reasons. Some who enter loving relationships will develop a greater sense of feeling, others will not. Why? We're complicated beings, that's why. And for all our similarities, you can take two people who experience the exact same event, at the exact same time, and have those two people come out with completely different points of view of how that experience seemed to them.